Elon Musk, the second richest man on Earth as of this week, has claimed his company, Neuralink, has successfully implanted one of its wireless chips in a human brain.
The announcement took place on X (formerly known as Twitter) which Musk bought in October of 2022. The announcement is not a complete surprise, as the FDA gave Neuralink permission to carry out the first trial on humans last September.
In this article I will explore this interesting development.
Who is Elon Musk?
Born into a wealthy family of emerald miners in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1971, Elon Musk is a tech tycoon and monetary magnate who has acquired many companies and assets over the years, many of which are well known for their scientific breakthroughs and erudite discoveries.
His most famous businesses are SpaceX, OpenAI, Tesla Inc. and most recently Twitter, which he bought and for unknown reasons rebranded as X. It is due to this acquisition that Elon Musk has received more media attention in recent years.
What do we know about the chip?
The chip, called “Telepathy” will initially be able to control prosthetic limbs but Musk claims that it will eventually be capable of controlling other electronics such as phones and computers. It will also help treat numerous other afflictions.
“Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal,” Elon Musk wrote on his X-account.
But readers should be somewhat sceptical about these claims, as Musk has a reputation for overpromising and exaggerating his achievements.
The operation took place on the 28th of January and the so far anonymous patient has reportedly recovered. “Initial results show promising neuron spike detection,” the world’s richest man claimed. Spikes are activity by neurons, cells that send electrical and chemicals throughout a person's nervous system, including the brain.
Neither Neuralink nor Musk provided any further details.
What does this mean for the future of bionics?
Even though the tests results show promise, they still need approval from governmental organizations, which will be hard to get as the procedures for tests are expensive and dangerous. It will likely be many years before this technology is widely available.
But it is also important to note that several other companies have also been working in this field, including Neurable, Emotive and Synchron. Synchron has been making leaps in the field of bionics since the company gained FDA clearance to test implants in humans in 2021.
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